MAM
WATConsult wins 19 awards at CMO Asia
MUMBAI: As more and more brands use the digital medium to find solutions to reach out to their target audience, the Indian media agencies are seeing an upward trend.
The latest was when WATConsult, won 19 awards at the recently held ‘CMO Asia – Social Media & Digital Marketing Excellence Awards’ in Singapore on 31 July 2014. An APAC level award which witnessed participation from 12 countries in the Asian region; the landslide win has made WATConsult, the highest awarded independent digital media agency in India.
The digital media agency was conferred the ‘Best progressive digital marketing company’ title. The win is a reflection of the fast growing nature of WATConsult, both, from a business and credibility stand point.
Among other wins, the ‘Best social media campaign of the year’ award was shared by Godrej master brand’s campaign and bestseller group’s Super Saturday campaign. The ‘Best social media integrated campaign’ award was shared by Radio Mirchi’s ‘Mirchi Music Awards’ campaign and SAP India. The campaign for SAP India also won the ‘Best use of Linkedin’ award. Colors TV’s ‘India’s Got Talent twitter’ campaign won the ‘Best use of social media’ and the ‘Best use of twitter’ award. Mother Dairy’s Mother’s Day Video campaign won two awards including the ‘Best viral marketing campaign of the year’ and the ‘Best online video’ award. Sony DADC won two awards with their app ‘Jarvis’ winning the ‘Best social app of the year’ and their ‘Beerpacity’ campaign winning the ‘Best use of gaming and animation’ title.
Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Milk SBU business head Sandeep Ghosh said, “It’s a moment of pride for us as our social media campaign has won the award for ‘Best Viral Marketing Campaign of the Year’ and ‘Best Online Video’. The credit goes to WATConsult for creating the campaign as well as the successful connect with the users online. We would like to congratulate them for the awards as well as for achieving this feat of bagging 19 awards from a single award ceremony.”
Multiple awards winning campaign from TATA Chemicals – The Human Touch of Chemistry campaign continued its winning streak with the ‘Best in online content’ award. WATConsult, also, ventured into the social cause marketing segment winning two awards for Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory and Nuclear Friends Foundation earning the title of ‘Best use of social media for social cause’. Bajaj Allianz general life insurance company won the ‘Best online marketing campaign’ award for its lead generation campaign. India’s leading FMCG conglomerate, Godrej won two more campaigns including the ‘Best integrated campaign award’ for their work on ‘The use of digital for ROI’ by Godrej Security Solutions and the ‘Best rich media online ad’ for the Godrej Masterbrand campaign.
Tata Chemicals VP and CHRO R Nanda said, “We are happy to note that our ‘Partner in Progress’, WATConsult have been awarded a Gold in the category – Best in Online Content for our website Human Touch of Chemistry at the CMO Asia (Singapore) awards. Thanks to the efforts of the individual team members at WATConsult in making the Human Touch of Chemistry campaign a success. Our aim is to increasingly strive to provide relevant and updated content related to science and chemistry which would help create a positive impact on the minds of millions of people around the globe.”
Godrej Security Solutions asst VP and marketing head Mehernosh Pithawalla added, “This award stands testimony to our strategy and I’m glad we have won an award in a category linked to return on investment. Digital marketing which is strongly aligned to your marketing strategy can result in great marketing return on investment.”
The icing on the cake for WATConsult, however, was their founder & CEO, Rajiv Dingra, winning the ‘Young Social Media Entrepreneur of the year’ title. Dingra, who is all of just 29, is now one of the leading thought makers in the digital market circuit in India.
Dingra said, “19 Awards in one night is a huge achievement. We have shown that our work in FY 2013-14 was above industry standards and with 28 awards in total across eight award ceremonies, we have only made sure that we set our standards and sights higher for FY 2014-15. WATConsult is, now, undoubtedly the most awarded independent digital agency and we look forward to owning that no. 1 spot in the years to come.”
Brands
Muthoot FinCorp names Arun Kumar COO & Harjit Singh Takkar chief distribution officer
Leadership hires to boost operations and widen pan-India reach
THIRUVANANTHPURAM: Muthoot FinCorp has strengthened its top deck with the appointment of Arun Kumar B as chief operating officer and Harjit Singh Takkar as chief distribution officer, sharpening its focus on scale, speed and service as it pushes into its next phase of growth.
The flagship financial services arm of the 138-year-old Muthoot Pappachan Group, popularly known as Muthoot Blue, is expanding both muscle and mindset. With more than 3,750 branches nationwide and its digital platform, the Muthoot FinCorp ONE app, the company is betting on tighter execution and wider reach to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive lending market.
Arun Kumar B steps in with nearly two decades of experience cutting across financial services, technology transformation and customer analytics. He previously worked with CreditAccess Grameen, where he led enterprise-wide technology and data strategy initiatives and played a pivotal role during a major merger in the microfinance space. His work spanned integrating operations and products while scaling lending and non-credit offerings such as insurance and pensions.
At Muthoot FinCorp, Arun will steer operational excellence and strategic growth initiatives, aligning teams and processes to deliver sharper efficiency across the business. A gold medallist from Anna University and a postgraduate from IIM Indore, he also holds certifications in design thinking, Blue Ocean Strategy and business analytics.
Harjit Singh Takkar takes on the newly created role of chief distribution officer, reporting directly to the chief executive officer. The position is designed to energise the company’s distribution engine and bring greater governance and agility across its branch network.
Takkar brings over 28 years of retail banking experience, having held senior leadership roles at IndusInd Bank, Bandhan Bank, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank. Known for scaling branch networks and building high-performing teams, he combines distribution expertise with governance depth as a qualified company secretary with a master’s degree in finance and control.
In his new role, Takkar will oversee branch business and distribution channels, with a clear brief to expand reach, lift productivity and reinforce the company’s pan-India presence.
Commenting on the appointments, Muthoot FinCorp Ltd. chief executive officer Shaji Varghese, said the company continues to invest in leadership as it scales. “Our purpose is to improve the financial well-being of the common man. As we grow, strengthening leadership across key functions is important to ensure consistency in execution and customer experience,” he said.
With complementary strengths in operations and distribution now in place, Muthoot FinCorp appears set to move from steady expansion to sharper acceleration, backed by people, process and technology working in concert.
